Wax- and silicone-containing polishes used for protective and decorative purposes are well-known in the art. They provide shine to furniture, floors, and other surfaces by leaving a glossy coating on the surface. Such polishes contain ingredients that can protect surfaces from tarnish and weather, remove old coatings, clean, and/or smooth rough surfaces. However, many polish ingredients are detrimental to certain surfaces, especially fragile surfaces found on antiques, for example, and also can be detrimental to the user's health.
Often, the glossy coating on a polished surface is caused by buffing a surface with a wax-containing polish. Examples of commonly used waxes include paraffin wax, carnauba wax, microcrystalline petroleum wax, vegetable wax, animal wax, and oxidized polyethylene and other synthetic polymeric waxes. Although useful, these existing wax formulations often fail to provide the desired ease of emulsification. In addition, these commonly used waxes frequently do not have the desired dual characteristics of malleability and durability.
If the glossy coating is not caused by a wax film, then it may be due to a silicone film created using dimethyl silicones or amino functional silicone products often found in polish formulations. The advantage of silicone is its ease of application. Silicone, however, also can contaminate surfaces and may be difficult to remove, especially amino functional silicones which crosslink and bond to the surface being polished.
Also often present in existing commercially available polish formulations is a strong alkaline emulsifier. Such emulsifiers may be desirable to aid in emulsifying the wax silicone component of the formulation, but they also can be damaging to the surface to which the formulation is applied.
Most known commercial polishes lack long-term stability and contain unspecified and variable ingredients or undesirable resins and modifiers, thus providing inconsistent quality. Such variables can be detrimental to objects, especially museum-quality artifacts and fragile antiques. For example, solvents in commercially available polishes generally have a high aromatic content which can be toxic and potentially damaging to the object being polished. Moreover, such variables can create application problems. Commercial polishes that are difficult to apply result in an unsatisfactory appearance of the polished surface.